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The Three Heads Were Bent Over the Paper 


The Three Little Denvers 


By 

EMMA CHURCHMAN HEWITT 

'I 



PHILADELPHIA 

GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO. 

PUBLISHERS 




THtTLIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

JUL. 29 1902 

Copyright entry 
C» ASSfV XXo. No. 

S r r C~) 

COPY 8/ 


Copyright, 1902 , 

By George W. Jacobs & Co. 
Published July , 1902. 




Contents 


CHAPTER. 

I. THE PAINTING PARTY - 

II. RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA 

III. CARLO AND THE WATCH - 

IV. WHY PAPA MISSED THE TRAIN 

V. A DAY IN THE WOODS - 

VI. A PROMISED PARTY 

VII. JIX’S BIRTHDAY 

VIII. MAMMA’S STORY-BOOK - 

IX. THE BABY BROTHER 

X. A TRIP TO THE SEASHORE - 


PAGE. 

7 

- 18 

’ 34 

- 43 

- 54 

- 7i 

- 77 

- 85 

- 89 

- 97 


3 
















Illustrations 


Facing page. 

The three heads were bent over the paper - - 12 

One small finger-nail was slipped under the edge of 

the back - - - - - - 38 

Jix was cuddled up beside mamma all ready to listen - 88 


5 



The Three Little Denvers 


CHAPTER I 

THE PAINTING PARTY 

There was silence in the great old-fashioned 
dining-room at Oaklands, on that bright June 
morning — a silence broken every now and then 
by the faint grind, grind, grind of paint upon a 
little saucer. No one, in that quietness, would 
have thought for a moment, that there were 
three children in the room, seated at work. 
Even mamma was obliged to come in every once 
in a while to see that they were all safe and not 
bent upon some unusual piece of mischief, as was 
very apt to be the case if they were so very, very 
quiet. 

And yet so it was. Around the table sat 
“The Three Little Denvers,” as they were known 

7 


8 


The Three Little Denvers 


for miles around. They were painting away as 
hard as they could. 

Let me introduce you to my three little folks. 
First, there was Jix, who was almost eight years 
old ; and then Carlo and Rex, twins, aged six. 
I mentioned Carlo first, because she was a girl 
(little as you would think it from her name) for 
“ ladies first,” you know, is one rule of politeness. 

They all had “heathenish names,” dear old 
Quaker Grandma Follen would say, and she 
never permitted herself to call them by anything 
but their real names. But as every one else 
called them by these funny “ heathenish ” names 
you will want to know how they came by them, 
and what their own names really were. 

Well — the matter is very simple, but it is quite 
an interesting part of the story, so I must tell 
you all about it. 

When Gertrude, the oldest one, was a little 
mite of a thing, hardly more than a baby, some 
one asked her her name. “ Jerty Jix Jember,” 
answered the little one, and everybody laughed. 
Her name was Gertrude Dilks Denver and you 
see “ Jerty Jix Jember ” was as near as she could 
come to it in her baby talk. So “Jerty Jix 


9 


The Painting Party 

Jember ” she was called for quite a time and at 
last, every one knew her just as “ Jix.” She had 
been “ Jix ” so long at the time our story begins, 
that I really believe that every one except 
Grandma Follen, had forgotten that she ever 
had any other name. Jix herself often forgot to 
answer when grandma called her “ Gertrude.” 

So much for Jix ; now for “ Carlo ” and “ Rex.” 
When Jix was about two years old, the twins 
came. When the little girl first saw the new 
babies, she noticed at once the little round, dark 
head of her baby sister. Laying her hand 
timidly on the soft, black hair, she looked up at 
her nurse and asked, “Tttle doggie? ’Ittle 
Carlo?” and then looked gravely and wonder- 
ingly at them all when they laughed. The only 
other “ baby ” she had ever seen, was a New- 
foundland puppy, a week old. As to her little 
bald-headed brother, he was something so differ- 
ent from anything she had ever seen, that she 
had nothing to say about him. He was chris- 
tened Eeginald, and called “ Kex,” for short — 
boys named Reginald are very often called 
“Rex,” you know; and though his twin sister 
was christened “Georgine,” at the same time, 


io The Three Little Denvers 

papa said with a laugh, that “ Carlo ” was a good 
enough name for her. So “ Carlo ” she stayed, 
though Mamma Denver did try her very best to 
have her called “ Georgine.” After a while even 
mamma herself gave it up and slipped into the 
way of saying “ Carlo.” Indeed, the child always 
felt uneasy when mamma called her “ Georgine ” 
nowadays, for she knew that it meant grave 
displeasure on her mother’s part, and possible 
punishment. 

So, as I said in the beginning, these three, for 
a good hour, had sat around the dining-table, 
that beautiful June morning. They were draw- 
ing animals that looked like nothing you ever 
heard of, and painting them all sorts of colors. 

“ Look ! ” said Eex after a while. “ See these, 
Jix ! Look at my corkindile,” with a happy 
little smile that showed how pleased he was 
with his work. He was proud indeed of the 
labors of the past half hour. 

“Cork indile!” said Jix in contempt, without 
looking up. (She felt very proud of being older 
and wiser than “the children” as she called 
them.) “ It isn’t cur&indile, it’s crock\ n- 
dile ! ” 


11 


The Painting Party 

“I don’t believe it!” answered Hex stoutly. 
“ But isn’t he nice, Jix ? Say, isn’t he nice ? ” 

Jix gazed at the sky-blue wonder with a sigh 
of envy. 

“Yes,” she answered, “he does look nice. I 
wish I could get this old el’phant right ! Hate- 
ful old thing ! ” and Jix looked at her own work 
spitefully. 

“ Ho ! ” said Carlo, scornfully, “ who don’t 
know that a lephlunt don’t have a back like 
that! Why a lephlunt ain’t got a neck like a 
horse , sticking up like that ! See me ! ” and she 
drew a very fair “ lephlunt ” with a few strokes 
of her pencil. That she painted him scarlet with 
deep green trunk and tail, a few moments later, is 
no proof that she did not have his shape correct. 

Jix was very much tried. She “hated any- 
thing like that,” which meant that she hated 
any one to prove that she was wrong. Hot that 
she blamed Carlo — O no — but why couldn’t she 
herself have thought that an elephant’s back is 
flat? Why couldn’t she have found out what 
ailed the elephant without having one of “ the 
children ” tell her ? She guessed she was tired 
of painting, anyway. 


12 


The Three Little Denvers 


For a moment, however, the three small heads 
were bent over the paper, noting the change Jix 
was making in her animal. So bus} 7 were they 
in watching the purple beast (she had tried to 
make him gray but had failed) that none of them 
had noticed a boy’s head at the window. 

“ I know something and I won’t tell ! ” sang 
Harry Follen, teasingly. 

A start, a jump, and a grand rush to the 
window was made by the two girls, while Kex 
held back with a doubting expression on his face. 

“O Harry! What is it?” demanded Jix 
and Carlo, eagerly, as their cousin swung him- 
self in over the window-sill. 

“ I know something and I won’t tell,” repeated 
Harry in his sing-song voice; and then, as he 
saw them brought up to the proper pitch of curi- 
osity, he added as he pointed his finger solemnly 
at each of them, 

“ Three little monkeys in a peanut shell ! ” 
drawing the “ she-1-1 ” out to a most irritating 
length. 

Jix bit her lip in anger to think that she had 
again been caught by this mischievous cousin 
who was always “fooling” them, one way or 


!3 


The Painting Party 

another. Even dear little good-natured Carlo 
felt a trifle hurt ; but Rex curled his small lip at 
the other two, and felt very pleased with himself 
that he had been wise enough to doubt. 

Harry looked at the three dignified children 
with a grin of teasing satisfaction, for a moment 
or two, waiting for them to say something, but, 
finding that they did not mean to speak, he 
turned towards the window, and pretending to 
be very much hurt, said, “ O well ! If you don’t 
care to hear my news, I’m sure I don’t want to 
tell it,” and he took a step as if he were going to 
jump out of the window again, and leave them 
without anything more. 

This was too much for Carlo (Harry, the teas- 
ing wretch, knew it would be) and she rushed 
towards him, seizing him by the arm and saying, 
eagerly, “ O don't go, Harry ! What is it ? I do 
want to know dreffie ! ” 

You never saw twins that were more unlike 
than Carlo and Rex. Though Carlo was six 
years of age, she still talked very like a baby, 
while Rex almost since he could talk at all, had 
spoken very plainly. 

u Why, mother got a letter ” began Harry. 


14 The Three Little Denvers 

“My mamma says you mustn’t say ‘got’ a 
letter,” interrupted Rex, “ she says you must say 
v-re-ceive .” (Rex still had some trouble with 
his “r’s.”) 

Harry paid no attention to him but repeated, 
“Mother got a letter this morning and Aunt 
Meg and little Tom are coming to stay ” 

A scream of delight in which even Rex joined, 
cut short the rest of this important piece of 
news, and in a moment all ill-feelings were for- 
gotten, and Harry was delighted with a flood 
of questions. “ 0 Harry ! When ? ” “ Aunt 
Meg ? ” . “ Little Tom ? ” “ Are you sure ? ” 

“ How long are they going to stay ? ” 

“ I was just going to tell you how long, when 
you stopped me. Now if you're going to talk, I 
won't , that’s all ! ” 

And Harry shut his lips tightly together in the 
most tantalizing way. How he did delight in 
keeping those children upon what older people 
called “ tenter hooks ” ! He loved them dearly 
and they were devoted to him, but he teased 
them cruelly at times. For it is cruel, children, 
remember that, to amuse yourselves by making 
other people uncomfortable, even if you do 




The Painting Party 

it only “ in fun.” When his mother talked to him 
about it, he always said, “ O pshaw ! I don’t 
mean anything ! I was only having a little fun.” 
But I think he really forgot that, when he was 
having fun, he was making it very uncomfortable 
for them. Boys who are great teases “never 
think.” It is very selfish not “ to think,” but 
people would often be much surprised if they 
were told they were selfish because they “ didn’t 
think.” 

“Indeed, Harry, we’ll be just as quiet as 
quiet ! ” exclaimed Jix eagerly. “ Only tell us 
all about it quick ! quick ! ” 

So Harry went on to tell them that Mrs. Follen 
had received a letter (only he would say “ got ” 
on purpose to annoy Kex) saying that Auntie 
Meg and little Tom were coming for a whole 
month, two weeks at his house and two at theirs. 

Mrs. Norman, known to the children as 
“Auntie Meg,” was a sister of Mr. Follen’s, 
likewise of Mrs. Denver’s, so that she was the 
same relation to both families. Little Tom was 
called “ little ” because his father was Tom also. 
Now I think you know who every one is and 
what relation they all are to each other. 


16 The Three Little Denvers 

Well, you may be sure they had enough to talk 
about now, and Mrs. Denver had no need to 
come every once in a while to see whether any- 
thing was wrong. 

“ Come on, Jix ! ” said Harry at last. “ Put 
on your duds and come down to the chicken lot.” 

Ho sooner said than done, and off went the 
older two together, leaving the other two forlorn. 

“ I don’t see why it is Harry never asks us to 
go with him,” said Rex crossly. “It’s always 
Jix, just Jix an’ nobody else ! ” 

“ O well, don’t let’s mind, Rex ! ” replied Carlo, 
the peace-maker. She was no better pleased 
than Rex was at the way they were habitually 
treated by Harry, but she always tried to make 
the best of things. Dear little round, roly-poly 
Carlo ! She made her own sunshine when it 
stormed. 

“’Tain’t nice, though, one bit,” she went on. 
“ But I tell you what let’s do, let’s play Christ- 
mas ! ” 

She made the suggestion as though it were 
something new, spite of the fact that almost ever 
since they could play alone at all, they had 
“ played Christmas.” 


l 7 


The Painting Party 

“ All right ! ” answered Rex, restored to good 
humor; and away they trotted to the nursery 
and that was the last heard of them for a long 
while. 

“Playing Christmas” consisted of wheedling 
nurse into letting them have all the most un- 
breakable ornaments from the Christmas tree. 
These ornaments were put away carefully each 
year in boxes, so that they might be used on a 
new tree when Christmas should come around 
again. It was a never-failing source of amuse- 
ment to dress up tables and chairs with these 
ornaments, lie down on the lounge in pretended 
sleep, then awake in about a minute and be very 
much surprised at the beauties distributed about 
the room. It was astonishing how this play 
never seemed to wear out, and from December to 
December they would go through the same per- 
formance, over and over again, as if it were an 
entirely new thought. 


CHAPTER II 


RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA 

“ I must go and see what those children are 
about,” said Mrs. Denver to herself as she finished 
off the last buttonhole in Carlo’s pretty little 
pink gingham dress. “They are so very quiet, 
there must be some mischief going on, I’m 
afraid.” 

But she went into the dining-room to find 
nothing but their work — animals everywhere — 
all colors, sizes and shapes, but children , none. 

Meantime Harry and Jix had hurried down to 
the chicken lot, their favorite playground. It 
was a large grass-covered field, enclosed in a tall 
paling fence and a number of trees grew in it. 
It was a fine place for children to play in, for 
the duck-pond in one corner was only about 
twelve inches deep, so while it was a beautiful 
place to sail paper or chip ships, there was not 
the least danger of the children drowning if they 
fell in. 


18 


Russia and Prussia 


19 


Harry had a new plan this morning, and he 
wanted Jix. She was always deep in any new 
scheme of his. He could always depend on her 
help, for there was nothing in the world that Jix 
loved better than to follow Harry in all he might 
do. And nothing hurt her feelings worse than 
to have him tell her she was “ only a girl.” This 
he was mean enough to do, once in a while, and 
poor little Jix’s sturdy legs or tired little arms 
were often sorely tried, for she would go far 
beyond her strength to serve Harry and keep 
him from saying those dreadful words, “ only a 
girl.” 

“Say, Jix, I’ve got something awful nice to 
tell you ! ” he confided to his little cousin in a 
mysterious whisper. 

“ What is it ? ” asked Jix, eagerly, delighted 
to have Harry tell her something “ all secret,” as 
she called it. Much as he tried her, this same 
teasing cousin, the moment such a thing was pos- 
sible, she always swallowed her wrath and pride 
and was glad to make peace again. And proud 
was she to be the one to whom Harry told his 
new secrets. 

“ See here ! ” bringing out of the depths of his 


20 The Three Little Denvers 

pocket a curious combination of twine and strips 
of leather. 

Without having the least idea what this 
remarkable looking thing was, Jix began to 
feel important at once. She looked at it a mo- 
ment and then said, “ What’s that , Harry ? ” feel- 
ing sure that it must be something “perfectly 
lovely,” Harry was always making such wonder- 
ful things ! 

“ Harness ! ” answered Harry, shortly. 

“Harness? ” repeated Jix, wonderingly. 

“ Harness , I said ! ” answered Harry again. 

“ What for ? ” asked Jix, still more in the dark 
as to what it all might be about. 

“ Russia and Prussia ! ” 

“ Harness for Russia and Prussia, our two big 
Shanghais ?” Jix asked in amazement. 

A nod was Harry’s only answer this time. 

Then the delights of the scheme dawned on 
Jix, and she fairly wriggled and danced with 
joy. If there was anything that tickled Jix, it 
was to be part of something that was a little out 
of the common run. Indeed, she felt quite a 
good deal of secret pride in Grandma Denver’s 
funeral, because a funeral was a rather uncom- 


Russia and Prussia 


21 


raon thing in their neighborhood and it seemed, 
in her eyes, to make the Denvers very important 
at the time. 

She soon was deep in this plan, and when 
Harry brought out from under a lilac bush, a lit- 
tle cart, rigged up for the special use of Russia 
and Prussia, she gave a squeal of delight. I 
say “squeal” because I mean “squeal.” You 
know some people laugh, some people scream, 
some people squeal, and some people say noth- 
ing, when they are particularly pleased. Jix 
always squealed. 

“ 0 Harry, Harry ! It’s just lovely / ” she 
cried. “ You’re just too smart for anything ! ” 
and Jix squealed again, hopping about from foot 
to foot because she could not keep still, she was 
so excited. 

“ Isn’t it just fine, though ? ” said Harry, with 
a boy’s contempt for the word “lovely,” and 
with pride in what he had done. 

“How, Jix,” he went on, “I’m going up to 
that big fellow over there,” pointing to Russia as 
they entered the gate, “ and I want you to corner 
Prussia, over there by the goat-house, and bring 
him to me,” 


22 The Three Little Denvers 

“ But Pm afraid I can’t catch him bv myself, 
Harry,” answered Jix, doubtfully, as she eyed 
the long-legged cock that was nearly as tall as 
herself. 

“ Can’t catch him ! ” repeated Harry contemp- 
tuously. “ Just see me catch Russia ! ” 

“ Had n’t I better help you catch Russia and 
then you help me catch Prussia ? ” suggested Jix 
timidly, still doubtful about being able to do 
what Harry wanted, and, if the truth must be 
told, not feeling at all sure, way down in the 
bottom of her heart, that Harry himself would 
be able to do what he had boastfully said he 
could. 

“ I don’t want any help, thank you,” replied 
he, decidedly, and then added what he knew 
would be a sting and spur to Jix, “ I wish little 
Tom was here ! He’d do it fast enough, he ' s a 
loy ! ” 

Poor Jix ! That was enough ! She would 
catch Prussia if it took every scrap of breath she 
had in her small body. 

So at it she went. Round and round she flew, 
now here, now there ; sometimes she felt as if 
she were everywhere at once and again she grew 


Russia and Prussia 


23 


so excited that she felt as if she were nowhere ; 
sometimes she caught her dress on a nail, some- 
times she fell flat with a force that took her 
breath ; but in an instant she was up and away 
again forgetting everything but that she must 
catch Prussia because little Tom would do it if 
he were there — he was a boy ! 

Finally, breathless and unsuccessful, she 
reached the ice-house only to find Harry sitting 
under the cool shade of an apple-tree. 

“ I’m — awful sorry — Harry ! ” she panted. 
“ I’ll try — again — as soon — as I get — my breath. 
I don’t see how you caught Russia so easily,” 
glancing around to see how he looked fastened to 
the little cart. 

“ I didn’t catch him,” replied Harry, crossly, 
trying to make Jix feel that in some way it was 
her fault. 

“ Why Harry ! ” 

“ I nearly caught him three times,” he went on 
in the same tone, — “ but nobody could catch a 
chicken with a girl rushing around screaming 
like a wild Indian, the way you were ! ” 

“I’m awful sorry, Harry,” began Jix apolo- 
getically. 


24 The Three Little Denvers 

“ That don’t catch the chickens, being sorry, 
don’t,” interrupted Harry scornfully. “ And 
three times I nearly had Kussia. If I’d only had 
somebody to head him off, I could have caught 
him just as easily ! I called you, but you didn’t 
choose to come, so I missed him. It would have 
been better, a great deal better, if you had helped 
me first, and then I could have helped you after- 
wards. But girls never can do anything right. 
I wish to goodness I had a boy to play with ! ” 
and Harry dug his heels into the ground in a 
way to show how he felt towards all girls and 
towards Jix in particular. 

Poor Jix! She could not help feeling that 
that was what she had wanted to do, in the first 
place, but she must be wrong, of course, because 
Harry didn’t seem to think so. Something was 
very wrong somewhere, but just where, she 
could hardly tell. Still she had a sense that she 
was being badly used, but as she did not know 
exactly what to say in her own defense, she 
seated herself silently by Harry’s side, under the 
shade of the apple-tree. To her great grief, he 
slid quickly away and turned his back upon her, 
to show her how deeply displeased he was. Poor 


Russia and Prussia 


25 

Jix! Now indeed was her cup full! What 
should she do, what should she do? It was 
hard to keep the tears back and the sobs from 
coming. At last she said in a gentle, trembling 
little voice, “ I’m ready and rested now, Harry, 
if you want me to help you catch Russia.” 

“ No ! ” answered Harry, crossly, “ I’ll catch 
Russia alone, or I won’t catch him at all ! ” 
adding scornfully, “ Who wants to be helped by 
a girl ! ” 

Even patient Jix nearly gave way at this. 
But she gave up any idea of trying to make 
friends. She knew that Harry was not often in 
such a humor as this, but anyway, whatever 
might be the matter with the very contrary boy, 
the less she said the better. So there they sat 
for fifteen minutes without a word passing 
between them, Jix broken-hearted, but getting 
the rest she sorely needed — Harry sullen, but 
beginning to be most heartily ashamed of the 
way he had treated his patient little cousin. 

Suddenly an idea struck him and he said 
eagerly, whirling around so as to face Jix, “ Say, 
Jix! Let’s you start here and me start there, 
and run around the duck pond, lickety-split. 


26 


The Three Little Denvers 


different ways and see if we can pass each other 
over there on that narrow edge by the fence, 
without knocking each other off into the water.” 

This piece of fun, like putting the harness on 
the Shanghais, had all the charm of newness, 
and added to that, all the charm of daring, and 
Jix took to the notion with delight. She would 
have been delighted at any time to undertake 
anything that had in it the risk that this had, for 
Jix dearly loved just to escape breaking a limb 
or being soaked to the skin. Her mother always 
declared that Jix caused her more anxiety than 
did both of the other children put together, for if 
the girl was once out of her sight, she never 
knew what condition she would be brought home 
in, she was so venturesome. Only the summer 
previous they had carried her in from a neigh- 
bor’s, entirely unconscious from having fallen 
from a wagon-load of hay, striking her head first 
upon a wheel and then upon a bed of clam-shells. 
What wonder that her father and mother trem- 
bled when they thought what might be the result 
of such an accident ! But after hours, she fell 
into a quiet sleep, and the next day, beyond 
having two sore welts upon her head, Jix would 


Russia and Prussia 27 

not have known that anything had happened. 
Her Uncle Charlie said she was a “tough nut,” 
and really it is a wonder that any one of a 
thousand things she did, did not kill her or maim 
her for life. 

Besides her love of the new and the daring, for 
Harry to propose this, showed that he was in a 
good humor again, which was of more value to 
Jix, just at that moment, than anything else. So 
even if she had not wanted to fall in with his 
plan, she would have done it, to keep him 
pleased. 

When Harry said “ One ! Two ! Three ! Go ! ” 
off they started. Round and round they flew, 
once, twice, thr — ah ! not quite three times, 
either; for Jix, poor unlucky girl, just as she 
was rounding the last corner for the third time, 
caught her foot on the root of a tree, and, turn- 
ing a complete somersault, landed flat on her 
back in the middle of the duck-pond. 

The water was not deep, but very, very dirty, 
and, shallow as it was, deep enough to almost 
cover the child as she was lying down. When 
she came out, a pitiful sight was Jix — covered 
with weeds and grass and old feathers till she 


28 


The Three Little Denvers 


looked like something out of the ocean, covered 
with seaweed. No one would have taken her 
for a child, at first sight. She looked like some 
queer kind of animal. 

For a moment she was stunned, and then she 
burst into a howl of fright. She remembered all 
too late that mamma had said that the very next 
time she got into mischief of this kind and came 
home “ looking as if she had been playing like a 
rude boy,” she should go to bed no matter what 
the time of day or who was there. 

Even Harry’s heart was filled with pity as he 
looked at the wretched little object, and knew 
that the trouble was all his fault. If he hadn’t 
thought of it, Jix would never have done it. 
And if he had not been so mean to her and so 
made her very anxious to please him, maybe she 
would not have done it anyway. Harry had a 
little conscience about Jix sometimes, and this 
was one of the times it pricked him. 

“ Don’t cry, Jix ! ” he said, soothingly, bring- 
ing out from the bottom of his pocket a handker- 
chief that looked as if it might have been used 
last for wiping off the kitchen stove. “Here, 
Jix ! take my handkerchief and wipe your eyes 


Russia and Prussia 


2 9 

and don’t cry any more. It don’t do any good 
to yell like that. I’m awful sorry.” 

“ Your being sorry — don’t take — off the — m-m- 
mud,” jerked out Jix between sobs, unconsciously 
giving Harry a dose of the same that he had 
given her when she said she was sorry she 
couldn’t catch Prussia. “ And mamma will be — 
so — so — t-t-tr-ied ! ” And wretched little Jix 
howled again. “ And she’ll — put me to — b-e-e-d ! ” 
ending in a shriek. 

“ Sh-h ! Jix ! Hush , I say ! I’ll go with you 
and tell her all about it. It was all my fault 
anyway,” said Harry, manfully. 

“No, it wasn’t,” sobbed Jix. She could not 
bear to have Harry blame himself in this way. 
“ It was my fault. I knew I mustn’t all the time, 
’cause mamma often told me not — ‘ like a rude 
boy ’ she said,” and Jix rocked herself backwards 
and forwards in grief. “ And, O dear, I do feel — 
so — n-na-a-sty,” with another howl. 

“ Never mind, Jix ! If you’ll only stop crying, 
I’ll get the wheelbarrow and ride you to the 
house. Maybe Aunt Mary won’t put you to bed 
this time.” 

“ O yes she will — she will,” moaned Jix, unable 


30 The Three Little Denvers 

even for a moment to feel comforted by such a 
thought. Then she sat straight up and her eyes 
flashed. “You don’t know my mother, I guess, 
Harry Follen! Do you suppose my mother’d 
promise anything she didn’t do? ” she asked 
fiercely. “ Ho indeed ! ” Then her courage gave 
way again and she wailed : “ Ho, she’ll have to 
put me to bed, ’cause she said she would the ‘ next 
time,’ the very next time, and this is the very next 
time. And if she didn’t, it’d be a story, and 
my mother don’t tell stories, even nice ones like 
that, O, she don’t.” It is a wonder that Mrs. 
Denver, in the house, did not hear Jix’s shrieks 
as she remembered all over again the dreadful 
promise her mother had made. 

Harry was too kind to remind her that this 
was the afternoon that Aunt Meg and little Tom 
were to come, and that all the Denvers were in- 
vited over to the Follens to meet them. And as 
he considered that the very best thing for all 
hands was to get the meeting between Jix and 
her mother over as quickly as possible, he ran 
away for the small wheelbarrow, and started for 
the house with his forlorn, sobbing burden. 

“ What on earth is that thing that Harry has 


Russia and Prussia 31 

in the wheelbarrow, Jane?” exclaimed Mrs. 
Denver, looking out of the dining-room window 
as she was talking to cook. The squeak, squeak, 
squeak of Harry’s wheelbarrow had attracted 
her attention. 

“ Sure, I can’t think, ma’am, I niver saw the 
likes of it before, ma’am,” said Jane, who had 
been trying her best to see. 

“Harry, what have you there?” called out 
Mrs. Denver. Harry did not reply but brought 
his wheelbarrow to a standstill close to the 
porch, and a small voice said : 

“ It’s me , mamma.” 

“Why, Gertrude Denver! Where have you 
been and what have you been doing to your- 
self?” asked the mother sternly and in amaze- 
ment. And then the sight of Jix in her dress of 
mud, feathers and grass was too much for her 
and she sat down and laughed aloud till the 
tears came. 

This was too much for Jix and again she 
howled. 

“Harry, what has this child been doing?” 
gasped Mrs. Denver as soon as she could get her 
breath. 


32 The Three Little Denvers 

A few words told the story, Harry taking a 
more than generous share of the blame, and end- 
ing with a plea that Aunt Mary would “ let Jix 
off, just this once, she felt so bad anyway.” 

But “Aunt Mary,” who had recovered from 
her desire to laugh, was firm, explaining clearly 
to Harry that Jix was not being punished for 
destroying her clothes but for disobedience ; and 
because she had known perfectly well, before she 
began that race that the next time she fell into 
any kind of a scrape from playing in this rude 
way, she was to be punished by being put to bed. 

“You see, Jix,” she added, turning to the 
little girl, “that little girls who cannot wear 
dresses in the right way, must wear night- 
gowns.” 

So, a forlorn, sobbing little object, Jix walked 
up-stairs to bed, tears blinding her, her wet hair 
tickling her nose, and tiny streams of water 
trickling down her back. She was hardly able 
to see the knot in the wet rag which she had tied 
around her leg that morning because she could 
not find her garter. First she tried her fingers, 
then her teeth, but the “ hateful old thing ” re- 
fused to come untied. The more she tried, the 


Russia and Prussia 


33 


tighter it seemed to grow. Taking a pair of 
scissors, she began to snip, when suddenly a 
mighty sob shook her from head to foot, the 
scissors slipped and from garter, stocking and 
leg as well, a piece was cut, not large to be sure 
but big enough to smart at a lively rate. The 
pain and the sight of the trickling blood were 
the drop too much for little tired Jix, and she 
gave a scream of fright that brought Mrs. Den- 
ver flying up-stairs, her heart in her mouth. The 
wound was soon covered with court-plaster and 
the child herself washed and tucked into bed in 
a clean night-dress, her mother not forgetting 
the kiss of forgiveness which she always had 
ready for the repentant. In a few moments our 
tired little girl had dropped off into a heavy 
sleep, the sleep of utter weariness, that lasted 
until the next morning. 


CHAPTER III 


CARLO AND THE WATCH 

“ My dear,” said Mrs. Denver to Mr. Denver 
one morning about a week after Jix fell into the 
pond, “ I wish you would look at Carlo before 
you go into town this morning.” 

“ What seems to be the matter, mamma ? ” 
asked Mr. Denver, looking up from his paper. 
“ Anything serious ? ” 

You see Mr. Denver knew a good deal about 
the little illnesses of the children, and Mamma 
Denver always depended on what he said as to 
whether they should send for the doctor or not. 

“ She seems very miserable to-day, and I have 
told her not to get up until you have seen her.” 

Papa examined into little Carlo’s case at once 
and decided to send for the doctor. It was well 
that he did so, for Dr. Hew bold said that Carlo’s 
trouble was scarlet fever. 

“ A light case, madame,” he said to Mrs. Den- 
ver, “but keep the other children away. You 

couldn’t have it at a better time of year.” 

34 


Carlo and the Watch 35 

“I expect they will all have it,” answered 
Mrs, Denver in a troubled voice. 

“You've no right to look for trouble till it 
comes,” answered the doctor, laughing. “ Don’t 
expect anything dreadful till you have to — 
that’s the way I keep so young. Keep the child 
well protected but not hot, and follow my other 
directions and we’ll have her all right in a few 
days, won’t we, little girl ? ” and he smiled the 
smile that Carlo loved to see, sick as she was. 
Some how it seemed to make her feel better. 

The children all loved Dr. Newbold. They 
had known him all their short lives and he was 
just like one of the family, so that unless they 
felt very bad indeed, they did not much mind 
being sick, for they looked forward to the doc- 
tor’s visits as just so much fun. 

It was decided that Mrs. Follen should take 
the other two children over to her house, until 
all danger might be passed ; and so, feeling very 
important indeed, Jix went over to Auntie Fol- 
len’s with Rex, her mother telling her the last 
thing to be sure to look after him well. Mamma 
really did not depend much upon Jix taking care 
of Rex, but she thought that perhaps if she put 


36 The Three Little Denvers 

her little brother in the child’s care, it might 
make her a little less heedless herself. 

Day after day passed by and Carlo was doing 
very well indeed, so well that Papa Denver felt 
that he might make a business trip about which 
he had been thinking for some time. When Jix 
heard that her father was going to Europe in a 
few days, her heart swelled with pride. Her 
father was the only one of the family who had 
been across the water at all, and to have him go 
now for a second time, was a great thing, Jix 
thought. 

Mr. and Mrs. Denver made up their minds that 
the day Mr. Denver was to leave home, the 
children might be brought back without risk to 
any one, so that he could bid them good-bye, all 
together. 

A day or two after they heard the news, dear 
little Carlo did not feel quite so well. Indeed, 
she told herself she felt “ velly bad.” She lay on 
the sofa in the nursery and over and over again 
told all her miseries to her dollie. 

“ I sink it’s drefful lonely up here, don’t you, 
Meg ? ” and she looked at dollie with a scowl of 
discontent. “ And Jix and Eex all over to Aunt 


Carlo and the Watch 37 

Bessie’s, and mamma says 4 Carlo, don’t you sink 
you’re well ’nough to let me off about an hour 
’s mornin’, ’cause I want to do somesing for 
papa ; ’ an’ I says 4 Yes’m,’ an’ I must ’a’ told a 
kind of little story, ’cause I don’t sink I’m well 
’nough — ’tall! So there! An’ my papa — he’s 
goin’ way off to Europe. Wonder what Europe 
looks like ! Drefful nasty place, like’s not — full 
o’ bears, shouldn’t wonder. O dear, dear ! ” and 
the tot sighed and wiped from her cheek, the big 
tear that had just run down towards her nose. 

During her illness, Carlo had fallen into the 
way of thinking that she must be waited on and 
amused, so to-day, of course, she felt very lonely 
indeed. Mrs. Denver had many 44 last things” 
to do for Mr. Denver before he started, and to 
attend to these would take all morning. Nurse 
was busy in the same way, too, and Rex would 
not be home till afternoon. So she had to be 
left alone, you see, for a time, and she had been 
told that on no account must she leave the 
nursery till mamma or nurse returned. 

She had stayed there and stayed there, she 
told herself, till she felt 44 ’mos’ wil’,” ( 44 ’most 
wild” was her favorite method of expressing 


38 The Three Little Denvers 

what older people call “ nervous ”) and she didn’t 
know what she should do with herself if some- 
body didn’t come “ right off, d’reckly.” 

She rose from the sofa, with the scowl still on 
her face and went towards the window to look 
for mamma, for the twentieth time. She stood 
for a moment gazing out across the beautiful 
fields, when the ticking of her mother’s watch 
attracted her attention. She listened a moment 
— where was it ? O there ! in the drawer, just 
where mamma kept it every night. How funny 
she hadn’t put it on when she went out ! 

Carlo peeped into the drawer with great inter- 
est, all trace of the scowl gone from her face. 
Suddenly an idea came to her and almost took 
her breath away. There it lay, the beautiful 
watch, and for the first time in her life she had a 
chance to take it in her own hand and open 
the “ little back part,” without mamma holding 
on to it all the time to keep her from dropping 
it. Just as if she would drop it! Why she 
would hold it just as tight ! 

But mamma had told her never to touch it ! 
Never mind ! Mamma need never know and she 
would shut it right up again, just as guick! 



Small Finger-Nail was Slipped Under the Edge of the Back 

















































































































Carlo and the Watch 


39 

And then there wouldn’t be the least mite of 
harm done. Naughty Carlo! She knew that 
there was just as much harm whether her mother 
saw her or not, and that she was a very naughty 
little girl to do anything behind her mother’s 
back which she would not do if mamma were 
there. 

But there lay the watch ! and now she could 
have it all by herself. But still she held back, for 
the good Carlo would not quite let the naughty 
Carlo do as she pleased — just yet. Directly, the 
longing to hold the pretty thing in her own hand 
grew too strong and she lifted the watch out of 
its case. A moment more, and one small linger 
nail was slipped under the edge of the back case. 
How Carlo’s eyes shone ! All thought of how 
naughty she was, was forgotten. All she thought 
of was the joy of at last looking at it “ all by 
herself.” It was very queer for mamma to fancy 
she would drop it ! Why she could hold a little 
thing like that just as tight, and never drop it 
at all. 

“ What you sink makes zat tick, tick go all the 
time, Carlo?” she asked herself aloud, as she 
turned the watch over to look at the tiny hand 


40 


The Three Little Denvers 


going round so quickly. Then the large eyes 
stared at the little “ meechine ” (everything that 
went by itself Carlo called a “ meechine ”). There 
was nothing heard in the nursery for a few mo- 
ments but the quick breathing of the excited 
child. Alas for her promise to herself to “ shut 
it up just as quick ” / 

Presently she exclaimed aloud, “ O zere’s a 
hair in zere! I know mamma won’t like zat, 
’cause ze man said, I heard him, zat ze leestest, 
littlest, teentiest, mite of a speck o’ dust would 
sometimes ru-ruin-ate a watch.” (She stumbled 
over the word because she was not quite sure 
whether it was Mr. Bruce, the jeweler, or Jane, 
the cook, whom she had heard use the word.) 
“ An’ zere’s a hair, a whole hah' ! Funny how it 
git all curled roun’ an’ roun’ zat way ! Funny ze 
man didn’t take it out ! It must ’a’ been zere all 
ze time ’cause mamma only got it back yester- 
day. A little hair, all curled roun’ an’ roun’,” 
she repeated slowly, “an’ it just goes wiggle, 
wiggle, jiggle, jiggle all time.” Here Carlo 
looked again. “ I’m goin’ to take zat hair out,” 
she said aloud. 

A little voice inside of her, told her that she 


Carlo and the Watch 


41 


knew that she ought not to touch the inside of 
the watch, no matter what was the matter with 
it. It was bad enough for her to take it into 
her hand even. To open it was worse, but to 
touch the works was worst of all. 

“ Dear me,” answered naughty Carlo to her 
good self. “ I guess anybody could take out a 
hair zat was stickin’ right out zat way, right be- 
fore ’em, all curled up.” 

With Carlo, to think was to act, the same as 
with Jix, so without waiting for any more words 
with herself, she reached over to the cushion for 
a large pin and went at taking “zat hair 
out.” 

Of course the “ hair ” did not come for it was 
the spring of the watch that Carlo was trying to 
loosen, and as she worked away and still found 
it fastened it began to come to her that perhaps 
she had made a mistake ; perhaps anything that 
was as tight as that hair seemed to be, was 
meant to stay there. But what ailed the watch ? 
Its tick was gone and even the little wheel that 
had made the “ hair ” go “ wiggle, wiggle, jiggle, 
jiggle,” was still. A feeling of fright, almost un- 
bearable, came over Carlo as she saw what she 


42 


The Three Little Denvers 


had done, and she had all that she could do to 
keep from screaming, so scared did she feel. 

Sick at heart she poked back into the watch as 
well as she could, the broken spring, closed the 
case and put it in place. 

Busy preparations kept Mrs. Denver from 
noticing anything particular about Carlo beyond 
the fact that she was rather dull and out of 
spirits. If she could only have known what a 
heavy load lay upon her naughty little daughter’s 
heart, and what a dreadful ache there was there, 
and what an awful sickness and sinking would 
come over her every time she thought of mam- 
ma’s watch, with the dreadful little hair sticking 
out, all twisted and out of place ! 

If, too, she had only known what Carlo had 
done, it would have saved a great deal of trouble. 
But that you will hear about directly. 


CHAPTER IV 


WHY PAPA MISSED THE TRAIN 

After supper they all sat in the nursery 
talking about papa’s coming trip and making 
plans for what they should do while he was gone. 
They all talked at once (all but Carlo who had 
very little to say except that she had a headache) 
and then they would all be quiet at once. You 
know how it is when people are going off on a 
long journey. 

“Take good care of mamma, chicks,” said 
Mr. Denver at last to the three little ones. 
“Mamma, I’ll depend on you to get me off in 
time. I left my watch at Bruce’s. I am to get 
it as I go into town.” 

“What train do you leave in?” asked Mrs. 
Denver. 

“Half-past ten. If I lose that train, Madam 
Mamma, I shall miss my vessel to-morrow, for it 
sails at seven ; and I should forfeit my passage- 
money besides being too late to attend to some 

very important business in London.” 

43 


44 The Three Little Denvers 

“ You have plenty of time yet, James, it is only 
half-past nine,” glancing at her watch as it lay 
face up in the open bureau drawer. 

I do think that if Carlo had had any idea of 
how very bad she had been, and how her naugh- 
tiness would change all her father’s plans if it 
were not found out in time, she certainly would 
have confessed it right then, but she was too 
young to see that her fault of the morning might 
make him miss his train in the evening. She 
meant to tell mamma all about it when she was 
put to bed, but she wouldn’t tell before papa 
went because it would “make him feel bad 
too.” 

“ Papa, what is 6 forfeit ’ ? ” she asked slowly. 

“ To forfeit my passage-money means that if I 
am not on board when the boat is ready to start, 
I have to pay my money just the same as if I 
took the trip, because I have bought my ticket 
and they will not give me my money back. So 
if I want to go on another vessel, I must pay my 
money all over again.” 

“ O,” was all Carlo said. 

“ What train was that , Mary ? I didn’t know 
there was any train either way till the 10:30. 


Why Papa Missed the Train 45 

What time is it, anyway ? You’re sure your 
watch is right ? ” 

“ O yes, it must be. Mr. Bruce gave it back 
to me only yesterday. Let me see what time it 
says. Why what on earth does that mean! 
James ! my watch has stopped. It still says 
9:30. That must have been your train ! I can’t 
understand it. It was in perfect order when I 
brought it from Bruce’s yesterday. He war- 
ranted it for a year.” 

“ Haven’t you looked at your watch to-day ? ” 
asked Mr. Denver jumping up. 

“ No. I wound it last night as usual and put 
it into this drawer as I always do. It’s very 
strange ! ” 

“ Strange ! ” exclaimed Mr. Denver. “ Look 
here, Mary ! What on earth ! I don’t think it 
very ‘strange,’ after all. I don’t see how any 
watch could run with its spring tied up in a 
double bow-knot like that ! ” 

A sudden howl from Carlo, at whom no one 
had been looking, so worried were Mr. and Mrs. 
Denver over the condition of the watch and the 
lost train, startled them all, and one glance at 
her guilty face told the story as to who had tied 


The Three Little Denvers 


46 

the hair spring into a double bow-knot as Mr. 
Denver called it. 

“ Georgine ! ” said Mrs. Denver, sternly, “ tell 
me exactly how and when and why you did 
this?” 

The tone was one that always frightened the 
Tittle girl “ to pieces,” as she called it, because it 
showed mamma to be so very displeased. 

“ 0 dear ! ” wailed the child, without answer- 
ing her mother’s question. “ She called me 
Georgine, and I just know she’s going to scold me 
drefful and won’t kiss me when she puts me to 
bed ! O dear, O dear ! ” And she sobbed as if 
her heart would break, and her tears came thick 
and fast. But by degrees she told them all about 
it, and so deeply were they all interested, that 
they forgot all about papa’s train. 

“But, papa,” said Jix at last, “what are you 
going to do ? ” 

“ I don’t know,” answered Mr. Denver 
gravely. “ Miss the boat, I suppose, and forfeit 
my money.” 

Mamma sat thinking a moment and then said, 

“If you take the carriage to Winniford, you 
can catch the midnight train there.” 


Why Papa Missed the Train 47 

“So I can, my dear, so I can. You are the 
brains of the house,” answered Mr. Denver, a 
look of relief coming over his face. To miss this 
trip meant much loss to him in a business way, 
and to be late would be almost as bad. “ Please 
see that Patrick is ready with the horse in fifteen 
minutes.” 

So “ good-byes ” were said all over again, not 
without tears all around, and papa was off, and 
Mrs. Denver was left for two months to guide 
alone the “ three little Denvers.” 

She came back from the front door and sat 
before the open window, thinking sadly of many 
things, her face buried in her hands, when a 
miserable little figure crept to her side, saying 
forlornly, 

“ O mamma ! Aren’t you even goin’ to scold 
me ? Aren’t you even goin’ to call me 
‘ Georgine ’ ? Nothin’ but just sit there an’ sit 
there, an’ not say anything but just think how 
naughty I’ve been ? ” 

Mrs. Denver took her little daughter upon her 
lap and kissed the trembling little mouth and 
then talked to her in such a way that Carlo 
never forgot that night as long as she lived. 


48 The Three Little Denvers 

After Mr. Denver had been gone about three 
weeks, letters came from him and then you may 
imagine that there was great joy among “ the 
three little Denvers.” 

The next day there was almost as much excite- 
ment in the big dining-room, for everybody was 
getting ready to “ write a letter to papa ” ; and a 
little while after, everything was as quiet there 
as it was on the day you first met the Den- 
vers, for everybody was busy with writing a 
letter. Mamma, as well as the children, was 
writing with a lead-pencil, for she never liked to 
have ink around “ among such a set of wrigglers ” 
as these little ones were. If she should be called 
away for a moment, there was no knowing what 
might happen to the ink before she returned. 
And like all mothers, she was generally called 
away about a dozen times before she finished a 
letter. 

“ And now, my dear James,” she was writing, 
“ after telling you all the house news, I must tell 
you of two or three comical things the children 
have done and said. First comes Jix. One day 
last week I had to go out. While I was gone, 
Rex wanted to know where I was. 4 Out,’ said 


Why Papa Missed the Train 49 

Jix, who was in one of her short moods. ‘ Where 
did she go ? ’ asked Eex again. ‘ I don’t know,’ 
answered Jix with the grandest air she could put 
on, c I’m sure I didn’t have the cur’osity to ask.’ 
Pretty well for Miss Jix, wasn’t it ? Jix who 
isn’t given to large words, and who is about as 
full of ‘ cur’osity ’ as any child I ever saw. 

“ What is the matter with the twins that they 
have taken such a dislike to young Mr. Snyder ? 
Do you know ? Yesterday he came for permis- 
sion to dig bait in our garden. Of course I said 
‘ yes.’ While he was digging, Rex watched with 
a scowl upon his face, eyeing every movement he 
made as if he disliked the digger very much in- 
deed. I do not think the child really understood 
what Mr. Snyder was doing, but just as the young 
man was going away with a tin can full of hor- 
rid, wriggling earth-worms, Rex walked up to 
him and, looking at him sternly, laid his hand 
upon the tin can and stammered out (you know 
how Rex will stammer when he grows excited), 
‘ S-s-say ! Th-th-them’s our s-s-snakes ! ’ I con- 
vinced him that I had made Mr. Snyder a pres- 
ent of the ‘ snakes,’ and he allowed the intruder 
to go without any further words, but I think that 


50 The Three Little Denvers 

way down deep in his heart, he was anything but 
pleased. 

“ Just as Mr. Snyder was leaving the gate, he 
spied Carlo standing in the doorway. I do think 
that he is really very fond of the children and when 
he saw Carlo, he smiled so pleasantly and called out, 

‘ Carlo, will you go home with me ? ’ Miss Carlo 
drew herself up with a scowl that was almost as 
bad as Rex’s, and said shortly ‘ I am home, now ! ’ 
I was ashamed of the children, but Mr. Snyder 
only laughed and said 4 1 seem to have offended 
His Majesty and Princess Carlo in some way. 
Cannot you help me make my peace ? 5 and went 
off down the road. I was mortified, but it was 
funny. I had no time to take up the matter 
then, but I shall speak to them about this rude- 
ness. 

“0 1 must tell you one thing more about Rex. 
Mrs. Winslow called the other day and the mo- 
ment she caught sight of Rex, she began laugh- 
ing. She told me that while Rex was staying 
over at Bessie’s while Carlo had the fever, he was 
trusted one day to go into town with the driver 
and take two pieces of embroidery to the fancy 
store, to be matched. Mrs. Winslow was stand- 


Why Papa Missed the Train 51 

ing by the counter at the time he came. She says 
it was one of the funniest things she ever saw in 
her life to see that boy march solemnly up to the 
clerk and laying down his two samples say slowly, 
‘ Can you match these rags for Aunt Bessie ? ’ 
She says she will never forget it, it was so com- 
ical.” Then with a few questions and loving 
messages, Mrs. Denver’s own letter ended, and 
she took up the matter of the others. 

Jix’s letter was part her own printing and part 
her mother’s writing, but there was a good deal 
more writing than printing, you may be sure of 
that, for Jix had not been going to school very 
long. When it was done, it read this way : 


My dear Papa : 

We got your letter. hTo, mamma got 
your letter and read it to us. She’s telling me 
how to spell all the words I want to write, only 
I’m printing them and I can’t spell much. And 
I have to print because I can’t write anything 
but my name you know. Blossom has a calf, a 
teenty, weeny calf — all brown but its nose and 
feet and tail and lots of its back. That’s white. 
The calf has long legs. And did I tell you it has 
a white tail ? Good-bye, my dear papa. This 
round mark is five kisses. 


Jix Denver. 


52 


The Three Little Denvers 


When it came to the turn of Carlo and Rex, 
after talking a good deal about it, they made up 
their minds to send a picture, which Mrs. Denver 
told them was a very good plan. Rex undertook 
a steamboat, while Carlo drew the new calf in all 
its beauty. Many a hearty laugh did Mr. Den- 
ver have over Carlo’s calf with its tiny head, its 
long legs and its bushy tail, curled up over its 
back like a squirrel’s. After putting this, Carlo 
had changed her mind about the tail, and had 
drawn another hanging down (so that Mr. Den- 
ver might take his choice, I suppose). 

As for Rex’s steamboat, his mother had already 
explained in her letter what it was intended for, 
or I am afraid papa would not have known 
whether it was a ship or a barn. 

But when we are away from home, every little 
thing from our dear ones pleases us; and Mr. 
Denver kept in his pocket all the time he was 
gone, the letters and pictures the children sent 
him, and he looked at them over and over again, 
enjoying them every time. 

Indeed, I am quite sure that put away among 
his treasures, Mr. Denver has to this day that 
first letter written by Jix and that calf and 


Why Papa Missed the Train 53 

steamboat drawn by the twins, although the 
“ three little Denvers ” are grown men and 
women now. 


CHAPTER V 


A DAY IN THE WOODS 

Several days had passed since Mr. Denver’s 
return from Europe and the house had settled 
down into the old way, when he came down to 
breakfast one morning, looking troubled. 

“ Where’s mamma ? Where’s mamma ? ” 
shouted all three of the children the moment 
he appeared. 

“ Sh-h-h, children ! Don’t make such a noise ! 
Mamma has a dreadful headache and is trying 
to take another nap. I’m going to send Dr. 
Newbold out when I go into town, and you must 
all try to be as quiet as you can. She may have 
only the headache and she may be going to be 
very sick. There are a good many sick people 
around now. So you help mamma all you can 
by being just as quiet as possible.” 

A very sorry look came over the faces of the 
three when they heard that mamma was sick, 

but the idea of seeing their dear Dr. Newbold 
54 


A Day in the Woods 55 

and not having to take any nasty medicine 
either, was certainly a delightful one. 

Having a hearty love for children in general 
and these “ chickens” (as he called them) in 
particular, his coming was always a pleasure to 
these children and to others for miles around, 
sick or well. Those who were sick, felt sure 
they would “feel better when doctor comes,” 
and even if they did not feel so, he was always 
so kind and jolly and had so many funny stories 
to tell, that they half forgot their aches and 
pains. 

The well ones were sure of a pleasant word 
and smile and a little romp when the noise 
would not hurt the sick one. Often, too, the 
only medicine he gave was a caution to the 
mother to keep them quiet for a day or two. 
And oftener, when bad medicine had to be given 
or he had to hurt them in some way, he told 
a pleasant little story all the time or made a kind 
of play out of it', so that it was not half so bad as 
it might be. 

“ Papa,” said Jix, after she had been quiet a 
few moments, “ what’s math-mathur-mat-ics ? ” 

“ Mathematics ? ” repeated her father, but as 


56 The Three Little Denvers 

if he was not thinking at all of what Jix was 
saying, “ why it’s arithmetic, algebra, geometry 
and trigonometry and things like that.” He 
wondered a little at Jix asking such a question 
just then, but he was too much troubled about 
Mrs. Denver to pay any real attention. 

“ Would you mind saying it again, papa?” 
asked the child. 

Mr. Denver repeated the words and Jix said 
them over after him. 

“ There ! ” she said to herself, “ I guess I can 
say ’em now. I’m goin’ to say ’em over and 
over again all morning till he comes. Guess he 
won’t look ’stonished at me again. That’s what 
he said. He said he was ‘ ’stonished ’ last time 
he was here that a great big girl like me, eight 
years old, didn’t know what math-ur-mat-ics was. 
I thought maybe ’twas something to eat but it’s 
only old Arithmetic. Ho ! I never s’posed addin’ 
up two and two makes four, was mathur-mat-ics. 
Glad I didn’t say was it something to eat, when 
he asked me ! Glad I only said 6 no, sir.’ ” 

The children hung around, but out of sight 
till Dr. Hewbold came down out of their 
mother’s room. They knew that until he had 


57 


A Day in the Woods 

attended to business, there would be no fun, and 
not then, even, if he was very busy. So they 
always waited for an invitation ; but they took 
good care not to be far away when the right 
time came. 

When he came down-stairs, he found them all 
waiting for him on the porch, Jix feeling very 
proud indeed because she was ready to answer 
the question he was pretty sure to ask, for dearly 
as he loved the children, he certainly did like to 
tease them in his own good-natured way. He 
was very careful not to hurt their feelings, so 
they generally enjoyed the teasing as much as 
he did. 

“ Hello, Miss Carlo ! ” he exclaimed, picking up 
that delighted young lady and tossing her in the 
air. “ How are you all this morning ? Ho 
headaches, I hope, nor anything of that kind ? 
Heaps of people, little boys and girls, too, are 
having headaches, nowadays, and we must be 
careful you don’t get it. All right, are you ? ” 

“ Yes, yes, yes ! ” came in a chorus. “ Nothin’ 
the matter with us ! ” 

“Because I was going to say that if you 
haven't the headache, I’d take you for a ride up 


58 The Three Little Denvers 

to Silent Lake and we’d have our dinner in the 
woods.” 

“ O ! O ! jolly ! I’ll run ask mamma,” and 
Jix was off in a flash for mamma’s room, en- 
tirely forgetting Mrs. Denver’s headache. 
Much to her surprise, before she had gone ten 
steps, she found herself picked up bodily, whirled 
around and set down in the middle of the porch 
again. 

“See here, miss,” said the doctor, sternly, 
looking her in the eye, “how do you expect 
your mother to get well if you go bouncing into 
her room just as she has grown quiet? Why 
you might as well be a wild Indian or a young 
colt. I’ve fixed it all with her long ago, and she’s 
glad to be rid of such a set of monkeys. All 
you have to do is to send nurse to me. You 
need never think that I’ll ask you to go with me 
cmy where, unless your mother knows all about 
it,” he added, nodding his head. “So when I 
ask you, you may say ‘ yes ’ right off if you want 
to go and * no ’ if you don’t. Now send nurse. 

“But first,” he said, catching hold of Jix’s 
skirt as she flew by him, “ I don’t think you can 
go, Jix, unless you tell me what mathematics is.” 


A Day in the Woods 59 

His mouth was perfectly grave but his eyes 
were dancing with fun. Jix knew that he was 
not in earnest but she was proud to be able to 
answer. 

“ Math-ur-m-ma-tics,” she answered, holding 
her head very high, “is ’rithmetic an’ al-al- 
bridger” (poor Jix began to grow red as she 
found her memory failing her and her tongue 
stumbling over the words she had been so care- 
fully repeating all morning) “an’ trig-trig- 
triggeromety, an’ — an 5 ” (what was the other 
word ?) “an’ — ” a pause, and then triumphantly, 
“ O / know — j-jig-jigger-jiggeromety ! ” 

While she was answering his question, Dr. 
Hewbold seemed to see something very funny 
way down the road somewhere. Jix tried her 
best to see what it was but she could find 
nothing. If she had had any idea that he was 
amused at her, she would have entirely given up 
such a thought by the grave way in which he 
said when she had finished, “Very well, my 
dear, very well indeed. You certainly are im- 
proving. How call nurse.” 

Jix ran away, very proud of herself indeed, 
with her head a little higher in the air, saying 


6o 


The Three Little Denvers 


to herself, “ Well— I guess I ‘ ’stonished ’ him 
this time, the other way. He thought I wouldn’t 
know.” 

Greatly to their delight, and it must be con- 
fessed, greatly to nurse’s relief, in a few mo- 
ments they were off, old Hose, the doctor’s black 
horse, trotting merrily down the road with her 
happy burden, every once in a while tossing her 
head and switching her tail gaily, as though she 
knew what was going on, and enjoyed the fun 
as much as anybody. 

At noon Mr. Denver returned, finding Mrs. 
Denver much refreshed by the long sleep she 
had had in the quiet forenoon. She had been at 
rest, too, in relation to the children themselves, 
for though they were entirely out of her sight, 
she knew they were safe with Dr. Hewbold. 

Of course the children all wanted to drive 
(children always do) and of course Dr. Newbold 
had to fix it so that they might each do so. So 
it was decided that Jix should drive to the first 
mile-stone, Carlo to the second and Hex to the 
third. After that, the doctor was to take the 
reins himself because they would be nearly in 
the woods. 


A Day in the Woods 61 

At last they reached Silent Lake, and after the 
doctor had tied old Eose to a tree, he told the 
children to “get out and stretch their legs.” 
Then he unharnessed Eose, and turning her 
to graze, sat himself down under a big tree to 
enjoy the shade and quiet and coolness of the 
beautiful September day. 

“ O see there, Eex ! Look ! look at that little 
red squirrel ! Look, Carlo ! ” screamed Jix in 
delight. “ Ain’t he a beauty ? ” 

“ Where ? Where ? ” asked Carlo, hopping 
around excitedly, now this way, now that ; first 
on one foot, then on the other. 

But Eex only muttered, “ Can’t see anything, 
I’m so beas’ly hungry ! ” 

“ Why, Eex Denver ! Aren’t you ashamed of 
yourself to say ‘ beas’ly hungry ! ’ ” said Jix, turn- 
ing on him fiercely, entirely forgetting the squir- 
rel in Eex’s sins. She thought she was speaking 
so quietly that Dr. Eewbold could not hear. 
“ You know mamma don’t like us to say ‘ beas’ly ’ 
anything , and you just know you wouldn’t ’a’ 
said it if she’d been here. I’m beas’ly hungry 
myself but I wouldn’t say so,” and Jix 
threw her chin up in the air, at the same 


62 The Three Little Denvers 

time giving Rex a glance of reproof, comical to 
see. 

“ H’m ! ” sniffed Eex, “ I guess you aren’t any 
better’n I am, miss ! You said just now you 
were ‘ beas’ly hungry.’ So there ! ” 

“ Why Kex Denver ! I never did ! ” 

“Did, too!” persisted Rex sullenly. “You 
said you were beas’ly hungry, only you wouldn’t 
say it, and that’s the same thing as saying it 
right out, so now ! ” 

“’Tisn’t,” replied Jix, now very angry. “It 
don’t mean what you said, at all ! ” 

“ Does, too ! ” 

“ It don't — so there ! But mamma told me 
never to kar’l ” (Jix never could say “ quarrel ”) 
“ with a littler person. ” And she walked away 
with her nose in the air just as if she had not 
discovered that Rex was right. 

So busy had the two children been with their 
dispute that they had entirely missed what the 
doctor had been doing meanwhile. The quarrel 
(which of course Dr. RTewbold had overheard) 
had explained to him just why Jix had been 
rather cross for the last mile, and Rex had been 
so very quiet. He had thought that Rex was 


A Day in the Woods 63 

quiet because he was driving and that Jix was 
cross because she was not. 

Directly, he called the children to him and 
they were delighted to see a nice lunch waiting 
for them. The delicious sandwiches filled their 
little mouths so there was no room for cross 
words, and the jam sweetened their tempers. 

As they ate, a wonderful idea came to Jix. 
She devised a cunning plan by which she might 
make Dr. Rewbold settle the dispute between 
herself and Rex, without the doctor himself 
knowing anything about it. 

“ Say, doctor,” she said at last, pausing in her 
eating, a piece of bread and butter in one hand, 
a chicken wing in the other. 

“ Well ? ” asked the doctor after a moment or 
two, as Jix did not seem to be going to say any- 
thing more. 

“ Why, say, doctor,” she said again, speaking 
very slowly, for she wished to choose her words 
well, so that he would have no idea about whom 
she was speaking, “’s’posin’ one person says 
something an’ ’nother person says they wouldn’t 
say it for anything, is that the same as saying 
it?” 


64 The Three Little Denvers 

“ Why no, not exactly.” 

“ There ! Eex, I told you so ! ” she broke out 
eagerly. 

“ She didn’t say it right ! ” began Rex, quite as 
eager to defend himself, “ I said ” 

“ There now, Rex Denver, you’ve done it ! ” 
interrupted Jix crossly. “What made you say 
anything ? I didn’t want the doctor to know it 
was you and me, an’ now you’ve gone an’ told 
him right out. I never saw anything like you, 
Reginald Denver, you never can keep one single 
little thing.” 

“ I didn't tell,” protested Rex, almost in tears 
at the idea of being accused of telling when he 
had not the least notion of doing so. 

The doctor thought it about time to put an 
end to this dispute between the children, so he 
said kindly, 

“I should judge that you two young people 
had had a dispute. ISTow suppose you tell me 
all about it and let me see if I cannot set the 
matter straight.” 

Then the whole thing was laid before him. 
So mixed was it as the children told it, first one 
and then the other and then both together, that 


A Day in the Woods 65 

had not Dr. New bold already overheard it all, 
he never would have been able to make head or 
tail of it. But he listened patiently all through, 
and then decided that Rex was wrong to use a 
word his mother did not wish him to, and that 
though Jix had not meant to do it, she really 
had used the word herself, as Rex accused her 
of doing. And he finished by making Rex 
promise that he would himself tell his mother of 
his fault. 

“Now, children,” he added with a laugh, 
“ school’s out, and I’ll give you a couple of hours 
to run around the woods. Go where you like, 
only be sure to go nowhere where you cannot 
see m<s.” 

Then he settled himself with his papers and 
books, and the children danced off in high glee, 
their dispute forgotten. 

They had been gone about five minutes when 
he was startled by a scream from Carlo. 

“ 0 doctor ! doctor ! Come kick ! ” 

There was such terror in the child’s voice 
that the doctor’s heart leaped to his mouth and 
he almost flew to the spot where Carlo was 
standing. 


66 


The Three Little Denvers 


“What is the matter, what is the matter, 
Carlo ? ” he cried, taking by the shoulder, the 
trembling child. 

“ Why, zere was a snake zere,” answered Carlo, 
a little bit ashamed, “ but when I hollered, he 
ran under the bushes. He slipped in just zis 
way,” with a motion of her small, fat 
hands. 

Again the doctor settled himself to his read- 
ing and the next thing he knew, there was Rex 
standing in front of him, just ready to cry. His 
shoes were full of water so that at every step 
they went “ squish, squish ” — his stockings were 
wet to the knees, and his face was covered with 
mud and sand, except for the white streaks which 
showed where three big tears had run down his 
cheek. 

“ Reginald Denver ! Where have you been 
now ! ” exclaimed the doctor, his patience a little 
tried by this last interruption. 

“In the ditch,” whined Rex. “I was on’y 
tryin’ to sail a boat an’ my feet kinder slipped 
an’ then I tried to keep myself from failin’ and 
both my feet went in an’ they’re we-e-t,” and 
Rex howled so loud that old Rose stopped in her 


A Day in the Woods 67 

dinner and looked around to see what was the 
matter. 

“ Sh-h-h ! O hush, for goodness’ sake ! ” cried 
Dr. Newbold, stopping his ears with his fingers. 
“ There’s nothing to cry about in a pair of wet 
feet. Here ! sit down ! Take off your shoes 
and stockings and we’ll put them out in the 
sun to dry. You can run around barefoot for 
a while ; it’ll not hurt you.” 

Rex hopped away in high feather. Going 
barefoot was a privilege to these children, as that 
was one thing about which their mother was 
very particular, and Carlo and Jix eyed Rex with 
envy, secretly wishing that it had been their 
good fortune to fall info the ditch. 

As soon as the stockings and shoes had been 
properly placed in the sun, the rather discour- 
aged doctor brought from the carriage an arm- 
load of picture papers, and calling Rex to him, 
gave him the pictures, making up his mind that 
he would keep the boy beside him until they left 
the woods. 

“Two of them have met with their accidents,” 
he said to himself as he sat down beside Rex, 
“ but Jix hasn’t been heard from yet. I wish she 


68 


The Three Little Denvers 


would do whatever she is going to, and have it 
over with, so that I could settle down in peace.” 

A moment later, his wish was gratified, for his 
meditations were interrupted by one of Jix’s 
loudest shrieks, and if any child could shriek 
louder than Jix, I have never heard it. One 
scream after another filled the air until the doc- 
tor reached the spot from which the voice came, 
and then another kind of shriek was heard, this 
time from Dr. New bold, who could not help 
shouting aloud to see the predicament into which 
Jix had fallen. But the child herself was so 
really frightened, that the doctor was ashamed of 
himself for having laughed at the way she 
looked. 

As usual, Jix had tried to do something more 
than the others and had climbed a tree after an 
empty bird’s nest. She was not much used to 
climbing, for Mamma Denver did not approve of 
such amusements for children, she was so afraid 
of their being crippled for life in some way. So 
it was very seldom that Jix dared to climb a tree. 

After she reached the limb where the nest was, 
Jix was crawling out towards her prize, when her 
foot slipped. Her dress caught, however, and 


A Day in the Woods 69 

kept her from falling to the ground, though it 
left her in a very comical position. For there 
she hung, her dress keeping her fast to the limb 
while she turned slowly round and round in the 
air, for all the world like a huge spider at the end 
of a web-line or more like a monstrous tortoise 
at the end of a string, for her hands and feet 
were flying in every direction in her frantic 
efforts to catch at something to save herself when 
there was really nothing within reach. 

The tree was low so the doctor had no diffi- 
culty in reaching up and unhooking Jix, for she 
was not quite so high as his head ; and I cannot 
deny that he felt a strong desire to give her a 
shake as he set her on her feet. As he brought 
her back to Reginald, he made up his mind that 
none of them should leave his side again for a 
single moment until he had safely set them down 
again on their own front porch. 

Finally they started off for home, Rex’s stock- 
ings on and the carriage rug thrown over his 
shoeless feet. At five o’clock they were at their 
own front door, tired, hot, dirty and hungry, but 
filled with the joys of their delightful day in the 
woods with the doctor. 


70 The Three Little Denvers 

As for Dr. New bold himself — well — he couldn’t 
help feeling that he had worked a good deal 
harder many a time among his sick folks and 
hadn’t felt half so tired. But he stopped long 
enough to have some supper and to tell about 
Bex’s wet shoes and Jix’s torn dress ; and when 
he saw how bright and rested Mamma Denver 
looked, he did not feel sorry any longer for all 
the trouble he had had in keeping the children 
for her during all that long, hot afternoon. As 
he rode home by himself in the cool of the even- 
ing, he could not help wondering that Mrs. Den- 
ver was alive at all, with the constant care of 
these three midgets. But then, he wasn’t a 
mother , you see, which makes all the difference 
in the world. Mothers don’t die just because 
their children are naughty or worrisome. No, 
indeed ! If they did, why there wouldn’t be a 
single mother left. They would all have died 
long ago. 


CHAPTER VI 


A PROMISED PARTY 

Soon another grand event happened among 
the children. 

But wait ! I am going ahead a little too fast. 
I must begin with about a week before, and then 
the story will go on all straight. 

Well then — the day came when Jix would be 
eight next week. In seven days , Jix would be 
eight years old. Almost a woman ! (at least so 
she thought). So papa and mamma asked her 
what she would like for a birthday present, and 
she made up her mind that of all things she 
would rather have a party. Then they told her 
she could have the party just one week from that 
day, Wednesday. 

O how important Jix felt ! Indeed, I think 
she must have felt very much as brides do when 
they think of their church wedding that is 
coming off soon. Jix had a great way of feeling 
important, you know. 


71 


7 2 


The Three Little Denvers 


Before he went to town, Papa Denver was be- 
sieged at the gate by two eager little folks for 
some money to buy Jix a birthday gift, and they 
were made happy by being given a silver quarter 
each, with which to buy “ jus’ zackly what we 
please.” 

Jix was so happy for two or three days, that 
her feet hardly touched the ground when she 
walked. A party ! A real party, all her own, 
just like grown folks ! O it was splendid, just 
splendid! Papa and mamma did think of just 
the loveliest things! Jix felt that there was 
nothing to be wished for that could make her 
any happier. 

But alas, for poor Jix ! She had two serious 
faults. One was her pride, which made her 
envious because she hated to be outdone ; and the 
other was her great curiosity. There is nothing 
which makes a child more disagreeable to those 
around than this same curiosity. Bemember 
that, little folks, and if you find yourselves trying 
to find out something that is none of your busi- 
ness and that you know you are not intended to 
know anything about, stop right there and re- 
member Jix. Besides, to try to find out some- 


73 


A Promised Party 

thing that papa or mamma or the older ones do 
not wish you to know, isn’t quite honest. It is 
trying to steal some one else’s secret. Remem- 
ber that. 

Jix often got herself and others into trouble 
from overhearing things wrong and thinking she 
had heard aright. She had received several 
lessons on the subject, but they did not seem to 
last. We will see what trouble her fault brought 
her into this time. 

On Saturday, the children were all invited to a 
little birthday party at Mary Monroe’s, who was 
eight. Besides the party, Mrs. Monroe had given 
Mary a pretty set of small dishes, large enough 
for her little friends to eat from. 

“ O it was just a lovely party ! ” Carlo said, 
and Jix quite agreed with her until they sat 
down to the table, and then her pleasure was all 
destroyed by the thought that Mary Monroe had 
a party and a present, while she was only to 
have a party or a present. O, it was just too 
bad! Dear! Dear! Why couldn’t Jix have 
both ! Surety Mary’s father wasn’t any richer 
than her father! It wasn’t that she wanted 
Mary's dishes ; nor that she wished Mary didn’t 


74 The Three Little Denvers 

have them. But why couldn’t she have some- 
thing to show on her birthday, too ! 

And Jix returned home in the dumps. 

Mamma felt sure that something had gone 
wrong, but she did not suspect that her envious 
little daughter’s disposition was at the bottom of 
the trouble. However, she did not ask any ques- 
tions. She did not often do so. She generally 
let things work out for themselves, for the chil- 
dren were sure to tell her everything sooner or 
later. 

She knew that nothing had happened or she 
would have heard of it at once, for half the fun 
of anything like this, was talking the pleasure 
over with mamma afterwards. Still, that there 
was something she felt quite sure, but waited for 
Jix herself to tell it. 

So the children were put to bed as usual, and 
the two younger ones were asleep almost as soon 
as their heads touched the pillow. But Jix tossed 
back and forth in her little bed. She could think 
of nothing but her discontent, and so she could 
not sleep. It seemed to her nearly a week before 
papa and mamma came up to bed. Hark ! didn’t 
she hear her own name ? Surely she did ! What 


A Promised Party 75 

were they saying? O joy ! Just as they passed 
the nursery door, papa said, “ and so I think I’ll 
get one for a birthday present for Jix, and the 
other children can use it too.” 

“Yes,” mamma answered, “a philosophy will 
be a very nice thing for Jix to have, but don’t 
you think she’s rather young ? Why not wait 
till she is a little older ? ” 

“ O no ! I don’t think she is too young. I 
think it will be a good thing for all of them, they 
are all such bright active youngsters.” 

They were almost out of hearing now and 
Jix had to strain every nerve to catch mamma’s 
reply: “Well, I don’t know but it would.” 

Then Jix lay down, satisfied — more than satis- 
fied. Not that she had the least notion what a 
“philosophy” might be, but it was a present 
anyway, so she, too, was to have a present and a 
party ! That was enough to know to-night, and 
to-morrow she would set her wits to work to find 
out what the present really looked like. She 
could settle herself now and in a few moments 
she was as sound asleep as the other two. 

All day Sunday, Jix thought hard for some 
plan of questioning her father or mother so 


76 The Three Little Denvers 

that they might not think that she had over- 
heard their words. Maybe it was some kind of 
animal? But no! papa had said the children 
could “ use ” it. 

There seemed to be nothing for it but to ask 
outright, but it must be done in such a way that 
they must not think she had heard. She waited 
until after supper and then walking over to the 
window and tapping on the pane, both to give 
herself courage and to make it seem that she did 
not care very much for the answer, she asked 
carelessly, “ Papa, is there such an animal as a 
flossflee ? ” 

“ A what ! ” asked the astonished Mr. Denver. 

“A flossflee” repeated Jix, still drumming on 
the window-pane, with her fingers. 

“No, I can’t imagine what you have gotten 
into your head,” and then as he looked at Mrs. 
Denver, he understood it all. Jix had certainly 
overheard their conversation. He then and there 
made up his mind that he would teach Jix a les- 
son, and make her curiosity its own punishment 
for the next few days. 


CHAPTER VII 

JIX’S BIRTHDAY 

We left Jix and her father in the parlor talking 
about a “flossflee.” I told you that Mr. Denver 
had made up his mind to let Jix’s curiosity be its 
own punishment. So after he had told her that 
there was no such animal as a “ flossflee,” he went 
on as though he had not noticed anything, “I 
guess you mean philosophy , Jix. Philosophy, my 
dear child, is a science, a study. I hardly know 
just how to explain it to you because you are so 
young ” (and she nearly eight years old !). “ The 
best I can do is to say that it is a book that tells 
you about — ah! see here! Come and look! 
Here is a large philosophy in the bookcase. 
You can see the pictures and find out a little 
what it is about. See ? Here are pumps and the 
reading tells you what makes them work — 
wagons, and it shows you why they run down 
hill more easily than up ; lightning, telegraphs, 

locomotives, see?” turning the pages quickly. 

77 


78 The Three Little Denvers 

“All those things and it tells you how they 
work. I mean you to have a philosophy some 
day, Jix,” and Mr. Denver went on showing her 
pictures of all sorts of things which she not only 
did not understand but of which she had never 
heard. 

Poor Jix! her heart sank lower and lower 
every moment, but papa did not seem to notice 
anything, for which the child was very glad. 

And this was all it was ! Nothing but a hor- 
rid old book after all! Full of umbrellas, and 
telegraphs, and wagons, and pumps, and things ! 
It was too dreadful for anything ! O if she only 
had not asked ! If she had only gone on think- 
ing it was something nice, she moaned to herself 
as she dropped off to sleep that night. 

The next day, Monday, she woke with a start. 
She had that uncomfortable feeling that all peo- 
ple have when something unpleasant has hap- 
pened or is going to happen. She did not know 
what ailed her at first, and then as she grew wide 
awake, she knew that “ philosophy ” was what 
ailed her, and her grief all came back again. It 
just seemed as if she could not stand it. 

All the morning, however, she was so busy, 


Jix’s Birthday 79 

that she had but little time to think of her troub- 
les. First of all, the invitations must be made 
ready. To do this work, tiny sheets of paper 
must be bought, with envelopes to match. Then 
tiny decalcomania pictures (that’s a big word, 
isn’t it ?) must be fastened at the upper left-hand 
corner. After this came mamma’s writing and 
directing of the notes, and then the envelopes 
had all to be fastened shut. 

You see there was a good deal of work waiting 
for busy folks on that bright Monday morning, 
and small people with dreadful troubles had 
really very little time to think about them. Jix 
would have had a thoroughly happy, busy morn- 
ing, if the thought of that dreadful “ philosophy,” 
had not run through her head every once in a 
while. 

Yery gloomy, indeed, she looked the next 
morning at the breakfast table. She had had 
another night to think of it. Papa, while he was 
a good deal amused at her mistake, was very 
sorry that his little daughter should act so and 
should show such an ugly fault so plainly. lie 
was glad that she was being punished in this way 
without his having to say anything himself, for 


8o 


The Three Little Denvers 


he disliked very much to do what the children 
called “ scold,” though he had to do so sometimes. 
He was always very glad when their faults pun- 
ished themselves. He knew that Jix was un- 
happy only because she chose to make herself so. 

W ednesday at last ! Jix opened her eyes bright 
and early, for Carlo called to her almost before 
the sun was up, “ Say Jix, zis is your birssday ! 
Did you know it ? ” 

“ So it is ! ” cried Jix, forgetting her sorrow, 
“ and I’m going to have a party ! O goody, 
goody ! ” 

“Yes an’ som’n else,” answered Carlo, looking 
very wise, “ but we aren’t goin’ to tell, are we, 
Rex?” 

“Ho, sir! I guess we ain’t,” said that young 
man decidedly, looking very wise too. The chil- 
dren little thought how they had dampened Jix’s 
pleasure all in a moment, for of course she at 
once thought of that “ dreadful flossflee ” which 
she had forgotten for a while. 

However, they all dressed quickly and ran down- 
stairs, Jix hoping and fearing she hardly knew 
what. Entering the breakfast room, she saw 
papa and mamma quietly eating their breakfast 


Jix’s Birthday 8l 

as though it was a day of no importance what- 
ever. She glanced quickly at her place and much 
to her surprise, and considerably to her disap- 
pointment, there was nothing there, not even the 
much dreaded book. Why even that would have 
been better than nothing 1 

You see Jix was a little hard to please, so it 
wouldn’t do for me to try to make believe she 
wasn’t when she was. 

Papa and mamma both saw the quick look and 
knew what it meant, but neither said anything, 
except, “ Good-morning, dears ! Come, Jix, for 
your eight birthday kisses. My Jix is growing 
a big girl,” and then breakfast went on as usual, 
except that the children’s tongues flew as fast as 
they could, talking about the party, and they 
hoped, between sips of Cambric tea, that the day 
would stay fine. 

When breakfast was over and Jix had given 
up all hope, papa went into the parlor and in a 
few moments called the children to him. Of 
course they all rushed to him, pell-mell, but 
stopped short at the door, for there stood a beau- 
tiful velocipede ! 

“ Why, papa ! I — I s-s’posed — I thought ” 


82 The Three Little Denvers 

stammered Jix, blushing and then catching her 
breath. 

“You c thought ’ — you ‘s’posed’ I was going 
to give you a philosophy book, eh ? ” 

“ Why, papa ! How did you know ? ” and Jix 
blushed harder than ever, and thought her father 
was certainly a most wonderful man for finding 
out things. 

Mr. Denver smiled and then said gravely, laying 
his hand on his little daughter’s head and looking 
kindly into her eyes, “ And now, my dear little 
girl, let this be another lesson to you not to put 
any trust in words that you overhear, and never 
try to overhear at all. It’s not honest, Jix. To 
steal some one’s secrets is the same as stealing 
anything else, my father used to say, though I 
know many people do not think so.” Then look- 
ing around, he asked, “ But where are the presents 
Hex and Carlo have for you ? ” 

“0 we’ll go get ’em ! We’ll go get ’em!” 
cried the children, who had forgotten everything 
but the new velocipede, and off they flew up-stairs. 

Directly, they returned with two good-sized 
packages which they handed over to Jix, Rex 
saying rather mournfully, “We couldn’t get any- 


Jix’s Birthday 83 

thing but candy for you, Jix. We wanted to 
get you a piano, but the one we wanted was ten 
dollars and the man wouldn’t take fifty cents for 
it, mean thing ! not even when we told him it 
was for a birthday present, and that we hadn’t 
any more money. So Carlo said she knew you 
liked pep’mints and I knew you liked ’lasses 
sticks. So here’s twenty-five sticks o’ ’lasses and 
there’s twenty-five cents’ worth o’ pep’mints, all 
but two that me an’ Carlo eat to see if they was 
good, an’ they was. An’ we just touched our 
tongues, me an’ Carlo, to all the ’lasses sticks to 
see if they was all right, an’ they was, only they 
seem kind o’ sticky. I never did see such juicy 
’lasses sticks, I never did, reelly,” and Bex paused, 
out of breath, to display the “juicy” mess in his 
hand. 

“ My dear,” said Mrs. Denver in an undertone, 
turning away her head so that they might not 
see her smile, “ I hope you are pleased with the 
plan of letting the children spend the money 
without advice from me or any older person. I 
can assure you I had no hand in this remarkable 
shopping. They have kept the whole thing a 
secret from me, even.” 


84 The Three Little Denvers 

If Mr. Denver was not pleased, he certainly 
was very much amused and he went off into fits 
of laughter every time he thought of how Rex 
and Carlo must have looked while they were 
gravely tasting each of the twenty-five sticks of 
“ ’lasses ” to see if it was good. What wonder 
that it had turned out “ juicy ” when two little 
tongues had been touched to it all. 

“ O papa ! ” sighed Jix that night as she went 
to bed, tired and happy, “ this has been just the 
loveliest birthday ! It’s been just the elegantest 
day ! I never was so happy, if Rex did step on 
my toe till I ’most squealed.” 


CHAPTER VIII 
mamma’s story-book 

The bright summer days passed by and soon 
the cool, crisp autumn weather came. 

One morning Jix woke with a funny little pain 
in her neck. It seemed to be under her ear, and 
when she swallowed, while it did not hurt her 
throat, it seemed to give her the earache. 

Mamma was alarmed and at once thought of 
diphtheria, but papa said, “ Nonsense ! Mumps 
most likely. They are going all around the 
village.” And mumps it proved to be. 

My little readers have probably nearly all had 
the mumps, so they know just how painful the 
disease is. Many a tear did poor Jix shed at the 
very thought of the good things she liked but 
could not eat. Many a plate of food did she send 
away with the cry of, “ O mamma, I can’t eat it 
and it looks so good, and I’m so hungry ! ” 

But after a while the pain grew less, and after 

all she had borne, Jix was in a state of mind 
85 


86 


The Three Little Denvers 


where she needed amusement badly. Mrs. 
Denver remembered Carlo and the watch and 
was careful to try to keep Jix employed in some 
way. Not of course that Jix would, at her age, 
do such a trick as Carlo’s, but she felt it best for 
the child to be busy, and then she would not 
have so much time to think about her aches and 
pains. 

One afternoon when she could not think of 
anything else for Jix to do, she told her that she 
might clean out a drawer in the chiffonier in the 
corner, and put the things back to suit herself. 
Now of all things Jix loved a task like this, so it 
was not long till she was deep in the work. To 
be sure, Mrs. Denver seldom could find anything 
after Jix’s “ fixing up,” so that the child’s work 
of this kind was not often permitted. When she 
was allowed to do it, it had all the charm of 
rarity. 

Suddenly there came a delighted exclamation 
from Jix. 

“ O mamma ! What is this kid glove ? And 
here’s another ! See ! It pretty nearly fits 
me / ” 

Mrs. Denver turned to see what Jix had found, 


Mamma’s Story-Book 87 

and saw a pair of gloves that she herself had 
worn as a child. 

“ Can’t I have them, mamma ? For my very 
own ? I do want a pair of real kid gloves so 
much ! Please, mamma, do ! ” 

“ You cannot have them now because they are 
too large for you, Jix, but just as soon as your 
hand is large enough, you shall have them. But 
they are very old and will not last long.” 

u Where did you get them, mamma ? ” 

“ Where did you get them, Jix ? ” 

“ Out of that Indian box down in the corner.” 

“ Look under the box and see if there is not a 
scrap-book there.” 

Jix did as she was told and brought forth a 
book in which were pasted printed strips of 
paper. 

“ There is a story to those gloves, Jix, and I 
think I will read it to you. I kept them to 
make me remember something when I was a 
little girl, and one day grandma wrote the whole 
thing out.” 

“ Grandma did ? ” 

“ Grandma did. When I was a little girl, my 
mother often used to write stories that were 


88 


The Three Little Denvers 


printed ; and I used to cut out the children’s 
stories and paste them in that book. I did not 
think then that some day I would be reading 
them to my own little girls,” and mamma 
smiled. “ So put back all the things nicely and 
I will read you the story about the gloves.” 

“ O isn’t that lovely ! ” cried Jix. “ Just think 
of hearing a story that my own grandma wrote 
about my own mamma and had printed in a 
paper ! ” 

In a few moments everything was neatly in 
place and Jix was cuddled up beside mamma in 
the big armchair all ready to listen. 

The story proved to be most entertaining, and 
when it was finished Jix found the other stories 
in the scrap-book and begged mamma to read 
them all. So mamma kept on reading until the 
tea bell rang and Jix passed a most delightful 
afternoon with mamma’s story-book. 



'Jix was Cuddled Up Beside Mamma All Ready to Listen” 












































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•: ■ .... , 




, 








CHAPTER IX 


THE BABY BROTHER 

Sometime after this, one bright winter morn- 
ing, just after Hew Year’s day, the children 
came down-stairs with their usual romp and fun, 
to hear a wonderful piece of news. Up-stairs 
there was a brand new baby brother ! 

“A really brother?” asked Carlo. “Hot a 
make b’lieve or a dollie ? ” 

“ Honest, papa?” asked Jix, her face full of 
pleasure. 

“ What color is he ? ” asked Rex. 

Papa and Jix laughed and then Rex grew red. 
The only little things he had ever seen, puppies, 
kittens, calves and the like, had been of so many 
colors, and how was he to know the difference ? 
He had some sort of a dim idea that all young 
things looked something alike. 

Papa could not help laughing aloud again, it 
seemed to him so funny, but he answered all 

three of their questions at once. 

89 


90 The Three Little Denvers 

“Can we see him, papa?” they all asked 
together. 

“Not now, dears. Wait till after breakfast 
and then Nurse Randall will show him to you.” 

“ Nurse Randall ! ” repeated Jix. 

“Yes, she is up there with mamma and the 
baby,” replied papa. 

“ Why, papa,” asked Jix anxiously, “is mamma 
going to die ? ” 

“ I hope not, dearest ; what do you mean ? ” 
said Mr. Denver, startled by the child’s ques- 
tion. 

“ Nothin’, only I didn’t know Nurse Randall 
took care of anybody ’cept folks that were going 
to die. You know old Mr. Pettibone and little 
Charlie Waters and grandma.” 

“ O,” said Mr. Denver. “ Is that all ? Don’t 
worry about mamma. She’s all right and will 
be down among us again in a few weeks, if you 
are good, quiet children and don’t worry her. 
Nurse Randall is a very nice old body when chil- 
dren are good and do as she tells them, but I 
won’t promise what she may do if you chickens 
don’t behave yourselves. Jix, you are older 
than the others and should be enough of a 


The Baby Brother 91 

woman to help amuse them and keep them out 
of mischief.” 

Wise papa ! He knew that this was the way to 
put Jix at doing her best. If she could only feel 
the pride of being head , she would be all right. 

“ Come ! Let us all have breakfast now ! Can 
my little woman pour papa’s coffee ? ” 

Proud as a peacock, Jix took her mother’s 
place at the head of the table and Mr. Denver 
was very much amused at the wise air she put 
on. To be sure, in her haste to do things prop- 
erly, she poured the cream into the saucer in- 
stead of the cup, and then filled the cup so full 
that it ran over into the saucer, and finished 
by putting a heaped teaspoonful of salt instead 
of sugar, but the second cup was all right. 
“Very good, indeed; almost as good as mam- 
ma’s,” papa declared ; so, on the whole, she did 
very well for a little girl only eight years old, 
and papa made her very happy by telling her so. 

So full of the great piece of news were the 
children that they had hardly a word more to 
say, even to each other ; and you may be sure 
they were all very impatient to go to mamma’s 
room with papa, to see the little stranger. And 


9 2 


The Three Little Denvers 


happy indeed were they when they were allowed 
to tiptoe very softly up to mamma’s bedside 
and kiss her, and then look at the funny bundle 
that Nurse Randall told them was their little 
brother. 

Sure enough, just as Papa Denver had said, 
mamma was down and around among them 
again very soon, and Nurse Randall’s place was 
supplied by a younger woman, “Nurse Mary,” 
who took charge of Master Baby and looked 
after the children generally, while the nurse 
they had always had, did the sewing for the 
little flock. You may know that there were 
plenty of stitches to be taken where there were 
three lively children and one tiny one. 

The “ tiny one ” was known as “ B ” until he 
was six months old because he had no other 
name. And he was known as “B” ever after 
because every one had fallen into the way of 
calling him “ B ” though he had been christened 
Lucian. This little fellow grew into as sweet 
and pretty and gentle a little boy as you would 
see anywhere. In fact he was more like a little 
girl. Every one loved him dearly, he was so 
biddable and sweet tempered. 


The Baby Brother 93 

Still, things will happen to the best children 
sometimes ; and without meaning to do so, and 
often even without knowing it, they may cause 
a great deal of trouble. So it was with “ B ” that 
beautiful day in July when he was just two-and- 
a-half years old. 

He never made a bit of fuss about taking his 
midday nap, even though he was growing a big 
boy now. He just trotted along beside nurse 
when she called him and lay down in his crib if 
she thought it was time. He loved Hurse Mary 
dearly and she loved him. 

But as I was telling you, one day something 
happened, something that seemed so dreadful at 
first, that they all felt as if they never could be 
happy again. 

Hurse was detained a little longer than com- 
mon and did not come for the baby, until a half 
hour late. She had left him on the piazza play- 
ing with his blocks. When she came for him 
he was nowhere in sight. She did not feel 
alarmed at first, thinking that he might be with 
his mother, out in the garden, but in a few mo- 
ments the whole house was roused. “B” was 
gone ! They called and listened and searched 


94 The Three Little Denvers 

but no sign of the missing “ B.” They ran down 
to the brook, they went over to the barn, they 
searched up and down the road but no trace 
of “ B.” 

After searching for the child for a half hour, 
Mrs. Denver sent one of the men into town for 
Mr. Denver, with the dreadful news, bidding 
him look closely all the way to see if he could 
find an}^ trace of the missing child. 

I need not tell you, I suppose, how pale they 
all were when they found that their dear little 
“ B ” was gone, — nor how very dreadful they felt. 
Poor Eurse Mary felt as if she were to blame in 
some way and yet she really was not. The child 
was often left on the piazza by himself, for no 
one ever dreamed that anything could happen to 
him there. But Mrs. Denver suddenly remem- 
bered that there had been gypsies seen in the 
neighborhood recently and she was nearly wild 
with the thought that her darling baby might 
have been stolen by some of these people. 

When papa came, he had had time to think 
the matter over and make some plans about 
hunting for the lost child. He, too, was afraid 
that the baby might have been stolen by the 


The Baby Brother 95 

gypsies but he hoped for the best. Mamma 
Denver felt too bad to do anything but cry, 
when papa came home, but Nurse Mary told him 
the whole story, adding, “Indeed, Mr. Denver, 
I can’t see how I am to blame. I left “ B ” out 
on the porch, as we all do, and when I went for 
him, he wasn’t there and that’s all there is of it. 
And we haven’t the least idea which way he 
went. His blocks are all there just as he left 
them.” 

Mr. Denver said nothing except to tell Mary 
that she was not to blame in any way, but he 
went into the house. He had no doubt that 
they had looked everywhere very thoroughly but 
if he was going to look for the child himself, he 
must go over everything for himself. He had 
made up his mind coming over, that no matter 
what the others had done, he would begin by 
searching the house from top to bottom, going 
from there out into the garden and barn and 
further. 

He started by going up on the roof, knowing 
that children sometimes climb into all sorts of 
queer and dangerous places. All through the 
attic he then looked, but no sign of the missing 


96 The Three Little Denvers 

child did he find. Then he went in and about 
the different rooms, his heart sinking deeper at 
every step. At last mamma heard a shout 
“Here he is!” and all the family rushed up- 
stairs to find him lying in his crib , so fast asleep 
that even papa’s shout did not wake him ! 

His sleepy time had come and his nurse had 
not come at the same time, so he had quietly 
trotted off by himself and crept into his bed. 
Pretty well, for a baby of two and a half, don’t 
you think so ? 

“ I wonder why we did not find him before ? ” 
said mamma, as she gently brushed the soft little 
curls away from his forehead. 

“ ’Cause you didn’t look in the right place,” 
answered Carlo, wisely. 


CHAPTER X 


A TRIP TO THE SEASHORE 

Hot long after this, Mr. Denver came home 
one day and told the children that he was going 
to take them all to the seashore to spend the 
next day. It was a great surprise to them and 
they were in a state of the wildest excitement, 
in a moment. They had never seen the ocean 
and had very seldom been far from home any- 
where. Their mother had always felt that the 
children had plenty of room and pure air and she 
could not see any use in their going away for a 
stay among the mountains, or at the shore, as so 
many people . do. She said that if she had chil- 
dren to look after, she would rather do it at 
home where she had plenty of room and every- 
thing she needed. 

But she was very much pleased to take this 
little trip to the seashore, almost as much pleased 
as the children, for she loved the “ reelly ocean,” 
as Carlo called it, and the little journey would 
be a treat. 


97 


98 The Three Little Denvers 

You may be sure that the children asked a 
hundred questions in as many minutes. You 
might have supposed that they were going to be 
gone for weeks, such a confusion did it make in 
the nursery. About six o’clock, “ B ” walked up to 
his father, who was sitting on the porch, and 
gravely laid in his lap a Noah’s ark, a set of tin 
cars, and a big woolly lamb. They were almost 
more than he could carry all at once, but by 
resting every few steps on his way from the 
nursery, and stopping to pick up first the cars 
and then the Noah’s ark (he held his precious 
woolly lamb clasped so tightly that he couldn’t 
drop that) he managed at last to reach his father. 
To be sure, the baby was very red in the face 
and out of breath, but he had done what he had 
set out to do. 

“What are these for, son?” asked papa, a 
little surprised to have such a number of toys 
laid in his lap without a word, not even, “ Papa, 
p’ease men’,” a request that he so often heard. 

“ Take to seesaw,” answered “ B ” soberly. He 
was a very sober baby, though he was a con- 
tented one and never fretted. 

“‘Seesaw’?” repeated Mr. Denver a little 


A Trip to the Seashore 99 

puzzled. “ Do you know what he means, 
mamma ? ” 

44 What is it, 4 B ’ ? ” asked mamma. 44 What 
does 4 B ’ want papa to do with the toys ? ” 

44 Take to seesaw,” repeated “ B ” very slowly 
and distinctly, wagging his little head up and 
down as if he thought that would help him to 
make them understand him. Seeing them still 
puzzled, he added, 44 Morrow-day.” 

Then Mrs. Denver understood. 

44 He wants you to take all those things with 
us to the seashore to-morrow,” she laughed. 
44 You see all he knows about the cars and going 
away is when I took Jix and Carlo to Meg’s in 
the spring. Then I let each child take a doll, 
and these are as precious as dolls to him. I 
suppose he thinks that 4 going in the cars 9 means 
taking all your treasures with you.” 

B, of course, did not understand all that 
mamma was saying, but he watched her closely 
and took in enough to let him know that at last 
they understood him and again he nodded his 
little head up and down slowly and repeated, 

44 Seesaw — morrow-day.” 

44 4 B,’ dear,” said papa, 44 we are going away 


100 


The Three Little Denvers 


for only one day. 4 B ’ will come back at night 
and sleep in his own little crib. We cannot 
take even the woolly lamb. But 4 B ’ will see, 0, 
so many nice things ! ” 

Poor 44 B ! ” to go away and leave his dear woolly 
lamb! He seldom cried for anything, but this 
was a grief too deep to be borne silently, and the 
big blue eyes filled with tears, while the little lips 
trembled. In a moment, a howl threatened to 
break out, for 44 B ” was going to refuse to be com- 
forted. 

44 See here, dearie,” papa said hastily, 44 go up to 
mamma’s room and bring down that bundle — 
no — it is too large for you — but go ask Mary to 
bring it for you. Let’s see what papa has bought 
for you all to take to the shore.” 

44 B’s ” tears disappeared in a moment, but he 
stopped to pick up his dear woolly lamb and clasp 
him tightly, while he was hunting Mary. 

“Bring the other children, too, Baby 4 B’,” 
called papa after him, as he went in the door. 

In a few moments, Nurse Mary, with four 
eager children at her heels and a big bundle in 
her arms, appeared on the porch. You may 
imagine how the children’s eyes shone and how 


A Trip to the Seashore 101 

they laughed with glee when four bright little 
pails and four little wooden spades came out of 
it. Even Baby “ B ” laid down his dear lamb in 
his delight with his new treasure, and went out 
in the garden to “ deeg,” as he called it. 

There really was so much “ getting off ” the 
next day, and they were obliged to start so early, 
that it is a wonder that they all got started at 
last without any special mishap. 

First, Nurse Mary did not understand that she 
was to go, so she had to make herself ready, all 
in a hurry. Then Jix fell down-stairs half way 
and bumped her head, and everybody had to stop 
for that ; then mamma forgot her sunshade, and 
just as they were starting papa found he had 
no necktie on. Baby “ B,” only, was ready for an 
hour before the starting time and sat on the 
porch, perfectly still, waiting for the others, his 
little spade tightly grasped in one hand, his little 
pail in the other. During that time, the other 
children were in and out forty times, I suppose, 
getting under everybody’s feet and doing more 
to hinder than to help, but imagining all the time 
that they were doing a great deal. 

And then — they really started and reached the 


102 


The Three Little Denvers 


station without anything worse happening them 
than to have Jix’s hat blow off in the road. As 
she had it hanging down her back, and as she sat 
on the back seat, no one missed it until they had 
gone about a half mile or so. As Mr. Denver 
always allowed an extra hour, when he was 
going to take the children anywhere, going back 
for the hat was not a matter which troubled him 
much, for there was plenty of time. He always 
declared that with a parcel of children, mishaps 
were always likely to happen, and he thought it 
was much easier to start earlier and keep in a 
good humor than it was to leave it till later and 
lose one’s temper over little accidents that 
caused delay or perhaps made one miss the 
train. 

What a lovely trip it was, to be sure ! How 
much there was to see and to talk about ! In 
fact, three of the children never had a better 
time in their lives, for, to add to their pleasure, 
Mr. Denver had asked Dr. Hewbold to go along. 
The idea of having their dear doctor with them 
for a whole long day, was enough pleasure of 
itself, almost, without the seashore. But the two 
together, were almost too much, 


A Trip to the Seashore 103 

I have said three of the children were having 
a good time. The fourth, Baby “ B,” was not en- 
joying himself at all. He did want to look 
around and see it all, for he had never been in the 
cars before, but the noise and confusion fright- 
ened him. Two or three times he suddenly hid 
his face in his father’s shoulder. 

44 What is the matter, 4 B ’ ? ” asked his father 
at last. 

44 O papa ! ” cried the little fellow with a shud- 
der, 44 O papa ! it ’ histles so ! ” and down went 
his head again, as the engine gave another shriek. 

But this passed away in time, and as they 
neared the station at the shore, 44 B ” was coaxed 
to lift his head and look around him. He grew so 
interested in seeing the ships in the distance and 
trying to count them, 44 one, two, fee, ’leven,” that 
even when the engine 44 ’histled ” as it entered the 
station, he hardly minded it at all. 

At last the train stopped still, and they were 
at the 44 seesaw,” the real seashore. For once, 
even Jix had nothing to say at first, it was 44 all 
so big ” as she said at last, when she found words. 
The great waves came rolling in, almost to their 
feet and then poor timid little 44 B ” had another 


104 The Three Little Denvers 

scare. He held tightly to papa’s hand, he was so 
afraid the waves would come and “ eat him up. r 
The ocean seemed to him like a great big, hungry 
animal, roaring around and trying to swallow up 
little boys. 

Like all other children, however, they soon 
grew used to it, and then the fun they had, dig- 
ging in the sand! It was such sport, too, to 
watch a sand-spider put down his head and slip 
under the wet sand in a twinkling and then dig 
him out again before he had a chance to go any 
further and then see him start all over again. 
Jix thought they were crabs, for which she knew 
her mother had a great liking. So she hid a 
quantity of them in her little pail full of sand, 
just before they started for home, and took them 
back with her, as a “ s’prise ” to mamma. 
Mamma was indeed “ s’prised ” the next morning 
when she went to the closet where the pails had 
been put the night before, for every one of Jix’s 
forgotten “ crabs ” had died in the night ! 

Of course, once, when Jix was not looking, a 
big wave came up behind her, knocked her over 
and laid her flat on her stomach, at her mother’s 
feet, drenched to the skin. But then, Mrs, 


A Trip to the Seashore 105 

Denver had expected some such thing as this and 
had brought a change of clothes for every one of 
the children. So she picked up the frightened 
child and sent her off to the bath-house to be put 
in order by Mary. 

Jix’s little accident was really the only thing 
that happened to them. The children were very 
much interested to watch the people bathing, 
though poor little “ B ” was very much distressed 
for fear his father would be drowned and never 
get out again. 

The dinner at the hotel, the waiters in their 
white jackets and aprons, the big hotel itself, 
with all the people going in and out, were each 
and every one a delight; and taking it all in 
all, they “certainly did,” as Jix expressed it, 
“ have the elegantest day ! ” 

Mamma told her that she was growing too old 
to use such expressions now, almost ten, but Jix 
replied, “But mamma, it was , just that — the ele- 
gantest day ! ” 

A happier, more tired set of children never re- 
turned home after a day’s pleasuring than the 
little ones who rode home from the station in the 
bright moonlight that warm summer night ; and 


106 The Three Little Denvers 

this delightful trip to the seashore, with its many 
pleasant experiences, was talked of for many a 
day among the three little Denvers. 






























































































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JUL 29 1902 


1 COPY DEL. ro CAT. DtV, 
JUL. 29 1902 

WL. 31 1902 















